This Easter, rather than buying chocolate, lend a hand to people in need and buy concrete instead.
Concrete may sound unappealing - and it certainly is not as tasty as chocolate - but it could mean a home for those who were put out on the streets by the May 12 Sichuan earthquake.
Homes for Hope, a reconstruction project initiated by South China Morning Post charities, is collecting contributions from the public to bring hope to tens of thousands of quake survivors. It aims to raise HK$18 million to build houses and infrastructure, such as roads and electricity supply, for two quake-hit villages, Qingquan and Shengnan , in Sichuan.
A year has passed since the disaster claimed 88,000 lives, injured 400,000 and razed thousands of buildings. But many survivors are still homeless and are living in makeshift shelters made of plastic, cardboard and discarded wood.
Many of them are old or handicapped and are in dire need of permanent, sturdy housing that can withstand future earthquakes, but they have no money.
Cherry Lau, 18, a Form Seven student at St Paul's School (Lam Tin), says the charity activity for quake survivors is a good opportunity for people to rediscover the true meaning of Easter.
'The meaning of Easter is hope and rebirth,' she says.
